German consumers prefer context-sensitive online advertising
German consumers want clearer data collection on the Internet. The "Consumer Privacy Survey" by Integral Ad Science shows that 40 percent of respondents now feel uncomfortable with personalized online advertising because they know that their data is being used here.
- Two-thirds of Germans believe that companies collect too much data about them
- 40 percent feel uncomfortable with data-based advertising
- Every second consumer wants contextual targeting
More than one in four (28 percent) are really creeped out by data-optimized targeting, which delivers advertising based on their user information. By comparison, only 17 percent are happy to accept the companies' use of data if they receive relevant ads in return. German consumers see context-sensitive online advertising as a real alternative: in the ranking of current forms of display, contextual targeting (47 percent) comes first among German consumers - followed by behavioral (46 percent), audience (32 percent) and geo-targeting (28 percent).
Out of the predicament with contextual targeting
"Marketing in Germany is increasingly in a quandary: Consumers will continue to want relevant advertising, but please not with their data! Sooner or later, this new data fatigue will necessitate a shift in consumer targeting," says Oliver Hülse, Managing Director CEE at IAS. "Contextual targeting offers advertisers an efficient solution to place their advertising messages in an appropriate, relevant environment without the users' data. Here, consumers are addressed precisely when they are engaged with the topic in question. This not only increases the relevance of the content, but also corresponds exactly to consumers' desire for context-sensitive online advertising."
Data protection comes first for German consumers
For German consumers, data protection is simply part of using the Internet: 91 percent consider privacy to be extremely important when they are online. However, 83 percent are well aware that companies collect their data for advertising purposes on their websites and apps. More than one in two (58 percent) want to actively do something about this and see themselves as responsible for protecting their data from this access.
Regular deletion of cookies (56 percent) and browsing history (45 percent), ad blockers (42 percent) and the use of incognito mode (36 percent) have established themselves as the preferred data protection measures among consumers. For relevant and personalized advertising, Germans would be most willing to disclose their data when shopping (49 percent), streaming video (42 percent) and e-mailing/messaging (41 percent).
The "Consumer Privacy Survey. was conducted by Integral Ad Science (IAS) in April 2020. In an online survey, 538 internet users in Germany were questioned during this period.
